You know Oscar Farinetti is nearby when everyone around you stands at attention. Almost imperceptibly, people seem to flip on an “efficiency switch” to reset themselves, which causes a ripple effect similar to throwing a stone into a pond. The founder of Eataly — which now has more than 40 stores worldwide and nearly €465 million in turnover — arrives with a brisk step, his unmistakable mustache framing a smile that exudes amusement and a hint of impatience. I wait for him at a table inside Terra restaurant, a contemporary bistro with a nearly ten-foot-long custom-made grill, in the Roma Ostiense store. Opened in 2011, this Eataly is the world’s largest. Farinetti relaunched it in 2018 following a $2.2 million renovation and an unusual, yet innovative collaboration with IKEA, announced by Farinetti himself and Andrea Guerra, executive president of Eataly since 2015: a 7,500-square-foot pop-up store, focused on the kitchen and living areas of the home.
Why reinvent something that already works?
Because after seven years, the store was already old, especially considering that 20 million people had passed through it. This hangar was part of the former Ostiense air terminal, which was terribly run down. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a pity because the area had so much potential, especially with the colorful Garbatella and Testaccio districts nearby. Eataly prompted the neighborhood to really take off and real estate value soared. But dynamics change, and so do desires. So, we came up with a couple of beautiful and crazy things to do.
Crazy things?
Fun and playful things. One was to revolutionize our fresh products: 60% of the food sold every day is made here that same morning. There’s an on-site brewery which pours 500 liters of beer per day, a new cheese-making facility with a view of the mozzarella makers, and pasta and pizza prepared on the spot, all involving more than 100 local producers.
And the second crazy thing?
The collaboration with IKEA: spaces where customers can co-design their home with experts via a multimedia and multi-sensory journey. There is also a “Roman living room,” an homage to Italian conviviality where you can sit and relax.
What does Eataly have to do with IKEA?
I’m a fan of Ingvar Kamprad (the founder of the Swedish furniture titan), and I have studied everything he has done. For me, he’s the greatest businessman of all time. We’ve always collaborated with IKEA. They buy our Vino Libero (wine produced without chemical fertilizers and herbicides). When Ingvar came to Italy, he asked me to show him around the Turin store, the original Eataly. More recently, I spoke with Alessandro Paglia, IKEA Italy’s head of development, and proposed a revolution: adding variety to their suburban mega-stores by creating small, super-digital urban spaces. I said, ‘Why don’t you do this at my store?’ He asked if it could be done, and I answered that anything can be done. Nothing seems to get you down. Let me quote you: “Pessimism should replace gluttony as one of the seven deadly sins.” Optimism and pessimism are two ways of seeing the future. The former allows you to always be on the lookout for solutions while the latter makes you think that you’ve hit a dead end. How can you live your life believing problems can’t be resolved? It’s terrifying, also for those around you.
*You seem to care deeply about politics. In 2013 you took out a full-page ad in two newspapers to celebrate Italy’s Republic Day on June 2.* We all need to get more involved. I don’t mean by joining a political party, but through dialogue. In this moment there is a pervasive selfishness with a decline in empathy, and we must react. So I bought those pages to remind people of the greatness of our Republic, the commitment of the Partisans who fought for freedom, and those without whom we wouldn’t have a constitution. I would buy more now to show that Italy is the most beautiful country in the world and that it doesn’t really have all the problems everyone complains about.
Your father, Paolo Farinetti, was a Partisan. He participated in the liberation of Alba and later became the town’s vice-mayor. But he also founded Unieuro, the electronics store chain at the foundation of your family business. What memory do you have of him?
Every April 25, I think about how my father would re-evoke the Liberation, which was the highlight of his life. To him, business was secondary to values.
*After the sale of Unieuro for $590 million, you could have sat back. Instead, you founded Eataly in 2004. Why?* What I enjoy most in life is coming up with new projects. If you think about it, it’s like being an artist; you take a blank slate, design something, and then you make it. And you make it so that it lasts. My very last project? I’ll be thinking about it a few hours before I shut my eyes.
You like to write books, and your most recent is a poetry collection, Quasi (Almost). Why?
To celebrate the wonder of human imperfection. We decide nothing. Not even our birth or our death. But we get closer to perfection when we become aware of our imperfection. Do you know who best embodied the spirit of “almost”?
Who?
Leonardo da Vinci. I adore him: almost a doctor, almost an inventor, almost a painter. In each case, he excelled. This is why Eataly sponsored the latest restoration of the Last Supper, which will extend the life of the mural for five more centuries.
*Just out of curiosity, your name is Natale, but very few people know this.* To be precise, my name is Natale Oscar Maria, but I have always been called Oscar. I started doing business at age 18 and had to go to a notary, and that’s how I discovered the truth. I tried to have it changed, but I couldn’t.
*You’ve received many awards. Among them, two honorary degrees, one of which is in business. Do you like the recognition?* I don’t know. The prizes get lost. I misplace them. If you ask me about the prizes of life, on the other hand, then there’s my family. I’ve been super lucky: a wonderful wife and three amazing children.
Your wife, Graziella Defilè, isn’t often discussed, but she’s an integral part of your business.
I created everything with her. Love is destiny, fate. My wife is the one who supported the family at first. She was the only one with a fixed salary, which she got on the 27th of each month. When we got married, her salary was twice as much as mine. Then she came to work with us and took care of the housewares department.
How did you two meet?
Where do two people from Alba meet? At the White Truffle Fair. I was at a coffee stand and she was at a milk stand. Already a promising combo. Do you know when I decided to marry her? I was in the middle of some burlap bags, all covered with dust. I knew she had a vacuum cleaner. I called out to her, “Graziella! Would you lend me your vacuum?” She came over to me. I watched her in slow motion thinking that if she says, “Where is the outlet? I can clean you up,” I’ll ask her to marry me. And that’s how it went.
Your three children work with you. Francesco and Nicola are Eataly’s managing directors.
I confess that I don’t have clear memories of their childhoods. I worked all the time, and then I brought them with me. Now, I exchange anecdotes with Graziella. Francesco is “the ironic one,” Nicola is “the American” and Andrea, who takes care of Cantine Borgogno, is “the farmer.” I’ve delegated to them.
You were born in Alba, and you founded your company there. What does your town have that’s so special?
Ingenuity plus a certain love of risk. If you read La malora written by Beppe Fenoglio in 1954, the year I was born, you’ll understand that people in Alba were infinitely poorer than in the south. There’s a theory that we were actually gamblers and that we transferred this thirst for adrenaline into business.
Speaking of gambling, Eataly Las Vegas opened last year...
Yes. We’re located in a historic hotel that’s now the Park MGM. They removed all the slot machines to accommodate us. They’re all over the place now, even in the bathrooms.
Italian cuisine is becoming increasingly important in our economy. Why do you think this is?
It has an incredible power. And yet, together with French cuisine, it’s the youngest in the world. The difference is that French cuisine was born in the royal courts, while ours was born in our grandmothers’ homes. It has the advantage of being simple.
Why was Eataly successful?
Because here you can have a great plate of spaghetti, then you can go home with pasta di Gragnano, the right sauce, and make it yourself. With foie gras, you won’t even try.
You defined yourself as a “collector of human types.” What does that mean?
As I get older, I can’t remember names, but I can figure people out immediately. I see you once, and after 20 years I still remember your character.
What human type are you?
Rather simple. I suffer from a dichotomy between who I really am and who I am perceived to be.
Could you elaborate?
First is my appearance: I look Middle Eastern, a bit exotic. Then, in life, I got lucky and I did some good things. And people tend to think that people who make something of themselves have dark secrets. Then the criticism begins.
No harsh words were spared for your latest enterprise, the FICO Food Park.
Despite the jinxes, I can say that after a year we’ve won the initial bet. I was there a few days ago discussing water and how we need to go back to the ancient sources of energy, like sun and wind, to save the planet. I was with sailing champion Giovanni Soldini. I once sailed from Genoa to New York with him to emulate the journey that led to the discovery of the Americas, which I recounted in my book, 7 mossi per l’Italia (7 moves for Italy), published in 2011.
You often talk about America. What makes it so special?
It’s still the land of opportunity, and the richest: $57,000per capita. Ethiopia, where the human race was born, is the poorest: $1,900 per capita. Why? Because in the United States, people from all over the world got mixed together: variety is powerful. During the 1960s, a lot of very good people moved to Northern Italy from the South and achieved miracles. Today, the reverse should happen.
After Las Vegas, Eataly opened in Paris, and plans are underway for Verona and London in 2020. Do you ever stop?
On Christmas day. The holiday is very important to me. My wife prepares a huge dinner for about 15 of us. We sit down at the table at noon and finish at midnight — with maybe a couple of eggs and truffles.
What’s on the menu?
It changes every year. We have so much biodiversity among us that it would be a pity to keep making the same dishes for 30 years. The saddest sentence in the world? “I’ll have the usual.”
Photo by Giacomo Bretzel